News from Latin America and the Caribbean

U.S. authorities honor Tijuana's top cop for driving down border crime

September 14, 2010 | 2:47
pm

U.S. border authorities paid a highly-publicized visit to Tijuana on Monday to shower accolades on the city’s
top cop, Julian Leyzaola. It was billed as a ceremony of recognition for
Leyzaola’s work with U.S. agencies. He’s helped drive crime rates down 52% along the San Diego-Tijuana border, the U.S. Border Patrol said. And
the FBI said Leyzaola’s cops have captured record numbers of U.S. fugitives.

To many observers, all the speeches and
plaques of recognition awarded to Leyzaola by the representatives of U.S.
agencies seemed designed to pressure Bustamante to keep him as secretary
of public security. Bustamante didn’t’ attend the event, but he most
surely heard about it. Tijuana’s cultural center was packed with hundreds of
Leyzaola supporters, including influential business and civic leaders,
and a media swarm provided mostly fawning coverage of the popular lawman’s
emotional speech.

The Tijuana reporters, taking advantage of
the rare opportunity to interview a U.S. federal agent, cornered the FBI’s
international liaison officer, Mike Eckel. He said the security situation
improved dramatically when Leyzaola took over as chief nearly three years ago.
“In the past, we didn’t have as much trust as we do now…. The changes that have
occurred here are impressive and enormous.”

-- Richard Marosi

Photo: Tijuana's secretary of public safety, Julian Leyzaola, in November 2009. Credit: Don Bartletti/Los Angeles Times